Til Death Do Us Part
by bobafettish1987
Summary: Vignette Lily and James take a welcome break from the surrounding war to get married.


The flying carpet the Potters had borrowed for the wedding as not exactly the racing broom that James had imagined for the occasion, but the difference had turned out to be an advantage, he decided. After all, a broom would have caused problems with Lily's dress, and would have kept them both occupied in an entirely different and slightly less pleasant manner than the extra long carpet which Sirius had taken the responsibility of steering--he would not disclose the destination. In fact, Sirius had hardly said a thing since they'd taken off, responding only to questions, and keeping his gaze directed at the countryside below. James was grateful for Sirius' uncharacteristic silence, knowing that the man who might as well be his brother was trying to give him and his bride some extra moments of privacy.

Lily knelt to his right, her long white dress now a careless cloud around her. It didn't really need to stay unwrinkled anymore. His arm was around her waist, his fingers buried somewhere in that cloud. His other hand was held in her own small fingers, in a firm grip caused by a healthy respect for heights coupled with a morbid fascination with the countryside far below. Her head was turned away from him, but not as if to ignore him. James' smile softened. If he didn't know better he'd say she was posing for him like a Renaissance painting, looking modestly away to hide her blush. Her red hair was swept up somehow—James wasn't even going to sort out the logistics of that—leaving only a few escaping tendrils which curled mutinously at the nape of her neck. James tightened his hold around her waist and brushed his lips across the spot where her shoulder and neck merged. She shivered at his touch, a sensation not yet numbed by years and familiarity, and turned her gaze back to meet his eyes.

"Well, Lily? Survived the ceremony, didn't we?"

She grinned and slipped her free hand up to toy with the back of his dress robe collar. "That's Mrs. James Potter to you, young man."

"Of course!"

"One day down, rest of our life to go." Lily's gaze seemed to focus on something over his left shoulder, into the slowly darkening sky. They'd had the ceremony late that afternoon, at Lily's request, so that they could ride off into the sunset just as they were now. James had found it safer not to get between Mrs. Evans, his mother, and Lily herself in terms of planning the affair, hence the carpet instead of the broom, but he'd had to admit they'd done a fine job without his interference. Not that he'd really bothered to do any such admitting out loud, but there was plenty of time for that, wasn't there? The important bits had gotten done—the wedding, the food, the dramatic takeoff—and James' only complaint was that it had all gone a little too smoothly for his liking. He had stolen curious glances at Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail all day, but other than the usual banter and a few manly well-wishings, nothing had seemed suspicious, which definitely _was_ suspicious.

James pressed a kiss to her cheek, knowing better than to ask what she was thinking. It seemed to bring her back, and she smiled and blushed. "Really now, Mrs. Potter," James scolded in his best impression of McGonagall, "you ought to be prepared for that sort of thing by now! Top marks in your Defense Against the Dark Arts N.E.W.T.'s and still you can't ward off a dark wizard's sinister attentions."

Laughing outright this time, Lily jabbed him experimentally in the ribs, where his ticklishness had always proved a handy weapon. He squirmed involuntarily, making a halfhearted protest. "The only dark thing about you is your hair," his wife retorted. She leaned back and cocked her head to the side, surveying him. "You know, your mother really was upset about your hair. If only you'd heard her! 'Even now! He couldn't even make it work for his wedding, of all things! However will the pictures turn out?' Really beside herself, you know? I do suppose that's what she was really weeping about, none of this giving her son away business."

"And your father," James said, raising an eyebrow, "is that what he was upset about as well? Because I'm afraid that thing on your head really has me baffled."

She waved her hand dismissively. "Of course not. He was simply terrified at the prospect of losing me forever to a sympathizer for the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black."

James thought he noticed Sirius' head turn to look at them, but when James started speaking the other man returned to peering down at the countryside. "Right, because you've spent many an afternoon tea explaining the sins of that house and, I'm sure, the whole of the Wizarding World. Because knowing you'd been invited into a society in which a pile of vocal gits would waste a lot of time calling you filthy names would really endear us all to him." Something bitter had crept into James' tone, and Lily stiffened beside him. When she spoke, her voice had the cool and quiet air of someone explaining an unpleasant reality for the hundredth time.

"Dad and Mum don't need to hear those things. They know there are bad wizards, and that there are aurors to deal with them. They know there's Azkaban, and they know there's Dumbledore. It's not that they don't know, but that they can't know, can't fathom the distinction, no…how bad it is. It's easier to believe in a spell to mend a broken teapot than a spell that kills. But they don't need to know. Certainly I've mentioned the Unforgivable Curses to them some holiday, but it's not like I use them. They don't get demonstrations of their…effectiveness. Even you, and your animagus form, they don't know about those sorts of things. Or…Remus's…there are just some things they needn't hear!"

James, cursing himself for bringing it up in the first place, kneaded the back of her neck with a practiced hand. "Look, now I've gone and mussed a bit of the best day of a girl's life: the day she marries me!"

"The best day? Today? No, certainly not! Today was all worries and making sure everything went smoothly! No, no, the best day is tomorrow, when we haven't got to do anything at all."

James waggled his eyebrows. "What, not planning to do _anything_?"

Lily's eyes were twinkling once more. "What, did you have plans?"

"Oh, if that's how it's going to be…" James murmured against her fingers as she traced his lips, but Lily never heard the rest of his threat. The carpet suddenly began to descend, and the pair was distracted with trying to get a glimpse of the mysterious destination. Sirius did a decent job of keeping clouds, then trees in the way of a clear view for most of the descent, and when finally he stopped the carpet it was hovering in front of a small wrought iron gate in a brick wall at least one and a half times as tall as James.

The gate was open, and in its place were the remaining Maurauders from their Hogwarts days. Remus Lupin was leaning against the wall on the side opposite the gate's hinges, his arms folded across his chest and a quiet smile on his face. In contrast, Peter Pettigrew was radiant in his glee, his hands clasped in front of himself. Sirius and James hopped off, the latter then turning back to make a great gentlemanly show of helping Lily to the ground (a distance of hardly two feet). He winked at his friends. "Knew the training would come in handy one day, didn't we, Padfoot?"

"We?" Sirius feigned distain. "I don't think any of the rest of us here have a better half to slave over."

"And so," Remus cut in genially, "we decided to come slave over the both of you." Assuming the stiff caricature of a butler, he indicated the path beyond the gate with a sweep of his arm. "If it would please you to follow me, Sir."

The newlyweds did so and found that the walls hid a charming bungalow, whose door was opened as they approached by Peter, who had apparently retreated there when Remus had stepped forward. They stepped inside, and Peter peeked around the door, eyes shining. "Do you like it? Do you? Moony found it. He always knows about this sort of obscure place. Well, not just this sort. I don't suppose Moony does a lot of honeymooning. What he does with the moon is a little different, don't you think? But anyhow, he told Padfoot about it, and you know how _he_ gets. Just had to have the place after that. And your parents, well, your mum, she really liked it, too." He paused for a breath but began again before James could summon a satisfactorily final reply. "It's not very big, you know. I don't suppose you really need it to be. There's food and things, and it's two levels, see. What is it, a week he—they've got it?"

Sirius, who was just entering with the carpet rolled up under his arm, let out a barklike laugh. "Give it a rest, Wormtail. Been a bit of a long day, don't you think, Moony?" He made no attempt to stifle an exaggerated yawn. "Can't have friends in the habit of getting married, can we? Who's next? Wormtail?" Peter blushed but frowned, causing Remus to hastily step in.

"I think you're right, Padfoot. Wonderful day, but we can't let it become a regular occurrence. Lily and James, I intend to not have to visit another of your public functions for a good eighty years or so."

"Well, at least this time we know better the amount of hankies Wormtail here will need. If it wasn't for Mrs. Masters' conjuring he'd have drowned himself by now!" Sirius set the carpet on the floor on end, and leaned on it as if it was a cane. "That's a charm I'll have to devote myself to studying day and night, in case of such emergencies. Damned useful thing. Not that I said as much to Mrs. Masters, of course. Don't want to give her a fat head. The rest of her is quite large enough, in fact—"

"Don't you suppose we ought to return the carpet?" interrupted Remus pointedly, with a not-so-furtive glance at the couple.

Sirius winked and hefted the thing again. "Right you are, Moony. It's a bit heavy, anyhow, and I can't say I won't be glad to put it away for a bit."

Lily raised her right eyebrow, twisting her face into a sort of amused skepticism that was very unlike the annoyed look raising only her left eyebrow brought about. "You are a wizard, you know. No need to be breaking your back with a big heavy carpet."

"Of course, my good Muggleborn," agreed Sirius with a bow, "but we don't all get the pleasure of such labor in our youth. It would be a shame to squander such an opportunity, don't you think?"

"You wanted to carry a flying carpet when you were little?" Peter snickered as Remus herded him as subtly as possible towards the door.

"Yeah, lifelong dream, mate." Sirius was the last to leave, pausing to catch James' eye and offer a final roguish wink. Finally even he was gone, and the happy couple stood alone in the entryway of the bungalow.

"What do you think, Mrs. James Potter?"

Lily ran her fingers along the mantel of the kitchen fireplace as if to check for dust. "So far, so good." She came back and slipped into his familiar embrace, resting her head on his chest. After what seemed like a very short time she pulled back a bit to look him in the eye, a devilish grin on her face. She twisted out of his arms and grabbed ahold of his hands, backing towards the little round staircase directly opposite the door. "How about we check the rest of the place?" And suddenly she released his hands and darted up the stairs. James was caught offguard by her sudden escape, but it took him only a moment to propel himself after her, encumbered as she was with the folds of her skirt.

They didn't bother to come back down that night.


End file.
